UC Davis formally broke ground on the $62 million Institute for Regenerative Cures on its Sacramento campus late September – the first such facility funded by the state in Northern California. The project is supported by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and will focus on team-oriented projects with the goal of discovering new methods to treat chronic diseases and injuries.

Robert Mondavi Institute Opening Friday Oct.10 10a.m.to12:30p.m. The formal grand opening of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science kicks off centennial week.The$73million complex near Interstate-80houses labs,classrooms and offices.Speakers at the event include members of the Mondavi family,Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi and Martin Yan ofYan Can Cook.

Few modern works have successfully tackled the complexities ofanurban American life bent on survival in a morally gray culture.T.I.‘s sixth major release,Paper Trails,is an investigation of the emcee’s neurosis as a rags-to-riches success story,as heis subject to the violence and fear upon which he built his kingdom.

The air is becoming cooler.For many,nostalgia emerges from its slumber.Before disinterring the albums you listen to every winter,try out Horse Feather’sHouse With No Home.Released Sept.9by Kill Rock Stars (Deerhoof,Elliott Smith,The Decemberists),House With No Home can best be described as a somber folk record that draws from roots,Southern and mountain influences.Its strength is its undeniable cohesiveness and the satisfaction of a start-to-finish listen.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the California DREAM Act on Sept.30for the second time in two years.The act,authored by state senator Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles),was aiming to allow illegal immigrants access to financial aid at the University of California,California State University and California’s community colleges. “I share the author’s goal of making affordable education available to all California students,” wrote Governor Schwarzenegger in a letter to the state senate, “but given the precarious fiscal condition the state faces at this time,it would not be prudent to place additional demands on our limited financial aid resources as specified in this bill.“

Brent Booth,welcome to the record books. A Los Altos,Calif.native,Booth made themost of his trip out to the University of Notre Dame.The junior chalked up a school-record64during Tuesday’s final round en route to a fourth-place individual finish at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic.

Editor’s picks: 1. The Overdubs Shayna and the Bulldog, The Overdubs Friday, 10 p.m., $3-5, 21 Sophia’s Thai Kitchen 2. Alas, alak, Alaska! Fancie, Alas, alak, Alaska! Saturday, 8 p.m. John Natsoulas Gallery on 1st Street 3. Brightblack Morning Light Brightblack Morning Light, Avocet Saturday, 8 p.m., $10 Delta of Venus

One hundred years ago, a handful of people ate a meal outdoors and talked about their plans for the University Farm. A photograph of this event – the event that would later be known as UC Davis’ first annual Picnic Day – is the first of many thought-provoking images from the Art Lounge’s inaugural collection.

Berkeley testing site of new athletic complex The tree-sitters may be gone,but what about the possibility of a Native American burial ground? Archaelogists at UC Berkeley are currently testing land adjacent to the Memorial Stadium on campus in preparation for the construction of a new$140million athletic center,according to an article in the Daily Californian.

In the aftermath ofSeung-Hui Cho’s massacre of32students,the Virginia Tech community had the horrific task of wondering why and how such a tragedy could have occurred. UC Davis officials hope they will never have to ask the same question. Efforts to prevent such an event from occurring at UC Davis werein effectwell before the Virginia Tech incident,but campus officials have increased their efforts even more so since then.The Aggiesat down with several campus safety experts to measure the progress.

UC Davis research physicist Richard Breedon and dean of mathematical and physical sciences Winston Ko are just acouple names from a group of UC Davis facultyworking on the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator,the Large Hadron Collider. “UC Davis was one of the very few American groups in particular that started in the very beginning,” Ko said.

UC Davis chemistry lecturer Andreas Toupadakis came to America from Greece in1978to get his Ph.D.inchemistry from the University of Michigan.After teaching at several universities around the country,he found a home at UCD several years ago. Toupadakis has more holistic extracurricular interests than your averagechemistry professor – including philosophy,life planning,gardening and making his own soap.